Safety lock



VI. WRIGHTAND H. BECKER.

SAFETY LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2s. 1921.

,eweaul'mlf' 2z llllllllllllllllll and' n MUNI? 24 Patented De.12`,1922.

27 lll. 26

Swanton Malcom jeruy Becker.

atto: new

Patented @Een l2, 1.922,

iiairifznY ,realza sarn'rr Loon.

appiicauoa sied nana. 2a, i921. serial rrd. 456,446.

To @ZZ 'whom'i may concern:l i

and l-lnivnv BECKER', citizens of the United of Maryland, have inventedcertain new and useful lmprovements in SafetyLoclsgfan-d, we do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description oi thein-v vention, such as will4 enable others skilled iii the art to whichit appertains to malte and use the same.

This invention relatesto improved saletyv locks for preventingaccidental operation of a if'alve used in steam turbine practice lrnownas a vacuum breaker. are designed to be operated by manual andindependent mechanically controlled means' and it not infrequentlyhappens that accidental operation ol the valve is caused by i a personbrushing against the manual-valve- Y c. operating means. lt is theVobject oi this invention to pi'ovide'saiety device which..y willpreventaccidental operation ofthe valve,` the locking means being ofsuch character that it must be positively released blioi'e the' vacuumbreaker can be manuallyoperated.,r

rEhe locking device is so constructedes .to permit the vacuum breaker tohe operated by the mechanically controlled means which, as alreadyindicated, is independent ot the manual operating means.

The various novel features of the invention will appear from thedetailed description taken in connection with the acoonn panyingdrawings forming part of this snecilication. and in which: i

L Figure 1 is a side elevation of the vacuum breaker showing theimproved locking means attached thereto, and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the mechanism shown in Fig.1.

ln the drawings, 1 indicates an upright frame which is adapted to besecured at its base to any suitable support and 2 is a shelfprojectinglaterally adjacent the bottoni o'li the trame for supporting avalve casing or body 3 having a valve seat l therein. 5 is a valveadapted to malte an air-tight connec-` tion with the valve seat 4l andhaving a valve stem 6 whichpasses'through a sleeve or collar 7 in thehead 8 of said casing, that portion of the casing or body below the headbeing of open work construction andv having standards or pillars 9 forsupporting the head 8. Surrounding the valve stein 6 between the collar7 and valve 5 is a spring Valves of this typel 'i0 which serves to keepthe valve to its seat. Be it known that we, Manoonu WRIGHT.

The casing 3 below the valve,l seat is provided with an opening- 11which is incom-y States, residing at Baltimore, in the State u .a vacuumchamber forming part of the turbine meclianism not shown. When the valve5 is raised from its seat, the pipe 12 is open..

munication with'azpipe 12 whichy leads to tov the katmosphere,andconsequently ,the vacuum is destroyed. 5 i

The manual means for elevating the valve 5 Lfrom vits' seat comprises ahand lever 13 v'pivoted to a standard 14 projecting from the iframe 1,the lever having abifurcated ball end '13. for straddling a rod 15 whichat its lower end is connected to the upper end of the valve stem 6 as bybeing threaded thereonv as shown 'at 16.` The, upper end ofthe 4rod-15is provided with a suitable head or shown at 15. 1t will be understoodthat upwardpressure beneath the head155byf tlie'lever 13 will elevatethe valve 5 from seat.v

.21 against which the upper e'nd of the spring 19 reacts. The spring 19is of the expansion type and tends to move the sleeve 20 upwardly withrespect to the sleeve 18. When the sleev'e 2O moves upwardly the rod 15will lbe carried with it, upward pressure being` exerted below the head15 of the rod` throughthe biturcated end 13 of the lever as will bereadily understood. lj'ivotally` mounted on the iiaed sleeve 18 as at22, is a latch or trip lever 23 which is adapted to be connectedas at24C to certain turbine governing means not shown. The bottom of thesleeve. 20 is provided with a shoulder 25 against which the latch 23abuts. `When the latch. is in the position shown in 1, upward movement01"" the sleeve 2O is prevented. When the latcli 23 is operated by thegoverning means in connection with i the turbine, thesleeve will'bemoved upwardly by the `spring 19, consequently the ing accidentallylifted from its seat bythe Ailixed `within the'head 17 is l hand lever13 there is provided a key 26 which passes through a slot 27 in the rodlwhere the latter projects through the lower end of the sleeve 20. Thiskey is connected by a pin and slot connection 28 to a hand Alever 29which is pivoted as at 80 to a;

and in abutting relation with the lower'end ofthe sleeve 20, as shown inFig. 2, that thevalve 5 cannot be lifted from its seat by the lever 13.Betore the valve can be so lifted'the key 26 must be disengaged tronithev rod rllhis arrangement, therefore, eectually prevents operation ofthe valve 5 through accidental manipulation of the hand lever i3.However, upward movement of the valve' is permitted when the latch 23 isdisengaged from the shoulder 25 of the sleeve 20 by reason of therebeing a piu and slot connection 28 between the key 26 and lever 29a `itbeing understood that the slot in the lever 29 is of suiiicient lengthto allow proper range of movement of the key 26 to allow the valve 5 tobe raised from the seat.

The improved locking device is simple and can be readily attached'toexisting vacuum breakers with but very little change being ymade in theoperating parts thereof.

lNe claim:

l. in combination, a :trame7 a valve stern slidably mounted in theframe, a plurality of lmeans for axially moving the valve stem,

and means for lockingA the valve stem against movement by one of saidmeans7V but not against movement by the other of said means.-`

2. ncombination, a framev la valve stem slidably` mounted in the frame,a springpressed sleeve .telescoping said stem, means releasably `lockingksaid sleeve against displacement in one direction, means locking saidvalve stem against displacement in the said direction when the sleeveislocked as said, means for operating said valve stem independently ofthe sleeve when the valvestem iocking means is released, and meanspermitting vsaid sleeve when released to operate the valve stem when thelatter 1s locked against independent movement.

3. ln combination, a frame, a valve stem slidably mounted in the trame,a pair ot' means for operating said stem, means for. looking thestem'against movement vby one o said means but not. by the other7 andmeans lfor :releasing said means to` permit operation of the stem bythesaid one means 'independently of the. other.

4. in combinatiomaframe, a valve stem. means` on the frame for operatingsaid stem,

a key normally carried by said Stem, any

tures.

` MALCOM, .WlGHTi- HENRY BECKER.

